100 years of AIL

David Lloyd George’s controversial ‘People’s Budget’ of 1910 included a number of measures aimed at taxing Britain’s landed classes. It also contained a clause allowing inheritance tax to be settled by the transfer of heritage assets.

After the Second World War, however, the National Land Fund was established, as a ‘thank-you offering for victory’, and this was used to compensate the Treasury and thereby enable transfers in lieu of tax. The land, houses and chattels accepted by the Governement were then transferred to appropriate museums or heritage bodies.

In 1976 Mentmore Towers with its magnificent contents was offered to the nation by the Earl of Rosebery for £2m, but the Treasury considered the price excessive and the deal fell through. Mentmore and its contents were subsequently sold at auction through Sotheby’s for £6.25m, showing how advantageous the initial offer would have been.

Over the years the National Trust has also received large numbers of works of art and other objects relevant to its historic houses through the AIL scheme. The value of these over the last ten years (excluding Seaton Delaval and its contents) was £21,645,000.

The current Government is placing greater emphasis on the benefits of private philanthropy. In view of the succes of AIL it would seem to make eminent sense, when public finances permit, to widen the scheme to include lifetime giving.

The National Trust already benefits from many generous private donations, but more could be done to make it easier for individuals to give, as can be seen for instance in the US tax system.

And in our opinion there is nothing wrong with people being proud of their philanthropy :) Indeed, philanthropy should be celebrated, and we were delighted that one of our major donors, Richard Broyd – who himself shuns publicity – was recently awarded the Prince of Wales’s Medal for Arts Philanthropy.